Wolfsoul

Summary: A woman from a savage tribe of warriors has been captured and now must find it in herself to survive the night as the baying of wolves comes closer...

The Baying of Wolves

Bound.
Struggling. Wrists chained, held up high. Ankles shackled, feet on
the ground. Breathing, shallow. Howls in the distance. The baying of
wolves. The smell. Odorous, foul. Rotted flesh. This was not the
first, nor would it be the last. She tried to struggle, to break
loose. It couldn't be done. She couldn't lift her feet up, not
without the sharp and painful feeling of spiked iron cuffs digging
into her ankles. She couldn't move without causing pain, without
cutting her flesh and mutilating her body.

Padding
footsteps. She could hear them. Wolves. Sacred to her people. Yet
were she free... were
I free I would skin them to survive. Their pelts would become a
cloak. Their meat would be my food. Their bones would be my weapons.
For
a moment that fierce nature she once clung to came back, only to
vanish again as she realized the starkest of truths. She didn't have
that as an option. There would be no skinning. No hunting. No killing
of wolves and feasting on their flesh. No wrapping their warm pelts
around her shoulders. There were no options, no choices to be made.
She was bound, and left to struggle in her chains. Pulling at the
chains above her, feeling her wrists burn. The crude iron shackles
dug into the flesh of her wrists. She knew that the iron plates were
not sturdy, that if only she could just pull hard enough she might
get free. She pulled harder. Blood, and yet no sign that she would
slip through the cuffs. Warm, wet, sliding down her arms. Blood.
Dripping down to the cavern floor below.

Growling.
She saw them in the torchlight. Wolves. Staring with haunting yellow
orbs. Judging.
Appraising. Am I their reward for a hunt well done? Will I feed the
pack? Is this the end? The
thoughts raced through her mind. A feeling. A pit in her stomach. Her
heart, racing. Like a war drum inside her. BoomBoom
BoomBoom BoomBoom! Almost
deafening, thundering in her eardrums. She stared at the wolves with
her amber eyes. That feeling. This
is what fear is.

Panic.
She pulled. She pulled again, even harder. Blood continued to slide
down her bare arms. Down onto the cavern floor. Soaking into the
dirt. The wolves circled around her from a distance. Growling. She
cried out in pain. They came closer. BoomBoom
BoomBoom BoomBoom! She
pulled harder. She heard a crack. Her wrist. No doubt dislocated. Had
to be. Pain, it shot through her. Agony, it enveloped her.

So
much pain. She struggled and she struggled. The wolves came closer as
they lapped up her blood. She cried. She sobbed. Then she screamed,
and the wolves jumped back, growling, ears flattening. BoomBoom
BoomBoom BoomBoom ...silence.

She
stared and they stared right back. No more struggling. Another
feeling came over her. This one was difference. No fear. No worries.
Acceptance. I
accept my fate.
She thought of those she would never see again. Those that she held
dear. Ailith.
Diarmad. Jørn.
She
would never see them again. Never. Gone. Lost. Alone. She was marked
for death and left to rot. Her fate. Acceptance. Sadness, but
resignation to her fate. The wolves approached again. She closed her
eyes. She could hear their noises, those awful noises. She prepared
for her end. Imagined the afterlife. Imagined what would be next. No
more bleeding. No more fighting. No more struggling. Peace. Just the
end. Just the oblivion of death.

Her
eyes snapped open. The wolves backed away slowly. Ears back, heads
bowed low. Submission. They felt her pain, or perhaps a certain kinship. She stared at them. Pain returned. A realization came over her. I
am cursed to rot here. Anger.
The wolves continued to back away.

"Come
on!" she screamed.

The
wolves disappeared into the darkness of the cavern. She struggled out
of anger and rage, the end of her suffering denied. She pulled at the
chains. Blood continued to spill from her mangled wrists. Pain. It
was the only thing she could feel. It gave her life. She cried out.
She pulled harder and harder. Pain. It overwhelmed her. It dulled.
Her vision blurred.

She
opened her eyes. A single pull of the chains. She cried out. Rocks,
dislodged. The plate, torn from the cavern ceiling. Falling. Striking
her. She fell. Chains came loose. Daylight, peeking through the open
crevices caused by her struggle. Blood flowing from the wounds on her
face, her cheek, her nose. Her eye. She struggled. She slammed her
shackled wrists against the plate. Determined. She gritted her teeth.
Another crack. And another. Pain shot through her. She struck the
plate again as the jagged edges struck flesh and iron. Iron on iron.

Shackles
came free. Hands bloody. Fingers dislocated and broken. Wrists
mangled. Her heart racing. She took hold of a rock with what strength
she had. And pure survival instinct. Only survival instinct. She
raised it up. Slammed the chain on her ankles. Again. And again. And
again. Pain. She bit her tongue, bit through her tongue. Blood seeped
into her mouth. Sharp, pain, life giving pain. Shackled loosened. One
more time. CRACK!
She tore the broken shackles from her raw and bleeding ankles. She
laid back against the cavern wall. She laid back and screamed.

She
ceased all movement. All noises. Amber eyes searching. Ears
listening. Birds chirping outside. Breathing. Long deep breathes. She
stumbled to her feet. One step forward. She fell to one knee.
Grabbing at a jutting piece of rock she hoisted herself up. Another
step forward. Stumbling but not falling. Deep breathes. She rounded
the corner. She saw it.

In
the distance, she moved towards it. Light. Daylight. She was
weakened, hurting, in pain. It didn't matter. Daylight. Freedom. She
stepped out of the cave. Highlands. Vast and lush. The craggy
mountains behind her. Air, so fresh. No odor. No shackles. No wolves.
She was in pain. It didn't matter. Valda Wolfsoul felt something
else. Something better. It made the pain fade, made the memory less
painful. No more feelings of despair nor fear, nor acceptance of
death. She felt only one thing.

Hope.

Write a Review
Did you enjoy my story? Please let me know what you think by leaving a review! Thanks,
Jason Bryden

gabita123mb:
This story kept me up all night and the plot was great. I love how the author keep going with the story even though she was not interested in writing it anymore, but you may think "so as she didn't want to continue with it, it might be bad" Nooo is the complete opposite is such a beautiful book a...

Tinkerbelle Leonhardt:
I'm such a sucker for this story, yes there are small spelling mistakes normal human errors, nothing major. you fall in love with the characters and wish to be apart of their lives from the start. You feel their happiness, their sadness and I found myself smiling through most of it, I love that i...

alice:
Ok, so at first I didn't like it and didn't really want to like it either, because I thought it was going to be like all the other sexist-werewolf-arranged-marriage stories, with characters that don't actually have a character or opinion. But this one starts off the way but after only a few chapt...

NabG:
Truly an amazing work of art, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys mythology. I was up all night reading it, so my under eye bags are gorgeous, but it was worth it.This books deserve so much more recognition, I’m certain that one day they will become a movie.Great job!!!

darlacampbell48:
I loved this book so much and I hope you keep writing. It was amazing. I criticize very harshly but I am so in love with your writing style and the book is great. The characters are surreal. I am in love.

BelovedMarionette:
A definite must read. I was riding the emotional rollercoaster with each of the characters through the entire first and second story and by the end of it all I was very happy with the outcome. I would have loved some background plot expansion and closure on certain things that happened between sp...

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